


The Boy Who Befriended the Wolf

by Mustikkatassu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 07:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mustikkatassu/pseuds/Mustikkatassu
Summary: Once upon a time there was a village surrounded by old, magical forest. The village is home to a young boy who is too easy to pick on, and the forest a home to a creature that takes the form of a wolf but might not be as dangerous as it pretends to be. Strangely enough, the boy is not afraid.





	The Boy Who Befriended the Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically how Yamaguchi and Tsukki first met, but in a fantasy/fairy tale-ish setting. 
> 
> I wanted to make this longer with more shippy stuff, but I've once again hit a writer's block, and I know from experience that if I try to finish a longer version before posting it, I end up never posting it. I think this works fine as a one shot. 
> 
> Eh, I don't know how to tag.

There was a small village surrounded in the embrace of a thick, dark forest. Children were firmly forbidden to ever step a foot in the forest and even the adults avoided going in there as much as possible. It was known to be a home to all sorts of creatures and spirits. A home to all kinds of forgotten stories and whispered legends that were best to be left alone.

In the village lived a boy named Tadashi, who was scrawny and easy to pick on. He cried easily which made pushing him around all the more fun for the other children of the village; those who were bigger or had a sharper tongue or perhaps just the fortune of having befriended someone of the popular kids. Tadashi was always alone, no one would dare to be his friend knowing it would bring a target to their own back as well. And if some of the children felt a sting of conscience, they told themselves it was all just joking, and that Tadashi was too sensitive. Life was easier that way.

One day they took the joke further, dragging Tadashi to the forest. The group was psyching each other up, repeating how every cautionary story about the forest was told just to scare babies. They weren’t babies, except Tadashi who was a crybaby, and wouldn’t it be fun to see how scared he’d get in the forest? None of the other kids would admit that they were scared as well.

Being pushed into the shadows of tall, ancient trees Tadashi did feel scared. He’d be lying if he claimed otherwise. There was no escaping, however, it would be over sooner if he didn’t try to run. They would get enough of tormenting him for one day and leave him be, they would. Maybe the dark forest around them would make today’s incident go quicker, too. No one liked spending too much time in there. So Tadashi took a deep breath and kept walking, following a narrow path in the mossy forest floor.

The forest was strangely quiet, yet felt alive around them. Sunlight got caught in the thick branches and left the ground swimming in twilight and twirling shadows. Here and there a bird dared to break the silence and Tadashi felt like there was constantly something looking at them, just outside his field of vision. The trees had trunks so thick Tadashi’s small arms wouldn’t reach even halfway around them. Everything was green and damp, and it was like the forest was drinking sounds into itself making the whole place feel peaceful. Tadashi found himself thinking that the forest was beautiful, and in that moment, he was a little less scared. 

He was abruptly pushed down a small hill, loosing his footing and tumbling down to the forest floor. It was softer than the ground in the village, but there were sticks and roots here that scraped his skin. He heard the other kids laughing behind him, rushing closer to kick him before he would get up.

“I’m surprised you’re not whimpering in fear already”, said one of them stepping on him to press him deeper into the moss. Tadashi felt the dampness of the ground seeping through his clothes.

“If he likes it here so much”, said another one, “we should leave him here for the night.”

Tadashi’s heart sped up. 

“You hear that? You want to stay with the trees? It’s a right place for and outcast like you anyway!”

“Yeah, a weirdo like you’d fit perfectly with whatever creatures come out at night, huh, dirtface? Let’s tie him to a tree!”

“N-no!” Tadashi protested. Two pairs of hands were already dragging him up. “No, you can’t do that!”

“We can’t?” sneered one of the bullies. “Watch us. Ah ha, there’re the tears, guys!”

Up to this point Tadashi had felt like there wasn’t a reason to fear the forest – the energy he felt around him wasn’t hostile. But the forest wouldn’t like it if he was here still when the night fell. He knew that. He would be uninvited, unwelcome to stay in the forest. Tied to a tree he would be like an offering to be devoured. 

He was shoved against a tree and held at place while the others looked for something to restrain him. He was pleading with his captures, telling them his mom would get worried, someone would want to know where he was, and the others would get in trouble if they didn’t come to their senses. They only seemed to find his squirming funny. Who was to say Tadashi hadn’t just gotten lost on his own, someone pointed out. They would be heroes when they’d fetch Tadashi on the morning, ‘finding’ him and bringing him home. They’d find a way to avoid getting in trouble, like they always did.

 _But what if the forest eats me before dawn?_ Tadashi wanted to ask.

Suddenly everyone froze like on instinct. Tadashi felt it too before he saw it, a presence among the shadows. Two big yellow eyes were watching at the group of children. A massive wolf looked at them idly, looming in the dim light like a boulder of dark fur. It made no move to attack.

The kids stared at the beast barely daring to breathe. Everything was still. Like the time itself had stopped.

The wolf huffed.

“Pathetic”, it said, and it was like a spell had been broken and all the kids fled for their lives.

All except Tadashi.

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t run or why he wasn’t scared for his very life. He just stood there, looking at the wolf in something like awe. The wolf didn’t seem dangerous to him, the unnaturally large animal just looked at the boy in indifference. The wolf was the coolest thing he had ever seen. Even if the wolf had probably included Tadashi in his statement of “pathetic”, Tadashi felt like the wolf had saved him.

The creature gave him one more look before turning around and sauntering back to the depths of the forest. Tadashi watched until he could no longer see the wolf, before heading home as well.

* * *

From then on Tadashi sneaked back to the forest every evening. He’d have to wait until dark to avoid being seen. The other kids had been seen running from the forest after they’d encountered the wolf, and now the adults watched everyone more carefully. Not that anyone except Tadashi even wanted to go back – seeing one magical wolf once was enough for all the other kids that had been in the forest. Hearing about that was enough for the kids who haven’t been there. 

Tadashi was okay with sneaking into the forest at night, though. He felt like he wasn’t uninvited anymore. He wasn’t just intruding, he had a reason for being there. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but the forest seemed to be granting him permission to enter.

The wolf was there. He didn’t seem particularly happy to see the small human boy, but he didn’t chase Tadashi off either. That had to count as a win. Tadashi felt special just for being let so close. 

Night after night Tadashi would sit on a rock and talk to the wolf, who rarely said anything but seemed to listen anyway. Tadashi got a strange feeling like the wolf wasn’t so different from him; like the wolf was also lonely – even if he wouldn’t admit he needed friends in the first place – and young too. The power running in the creature’s blood was ancient, sure, but the wolf itself didn’t seem much older than Tadashi himself.

When Tadashi inquired what the wolf’s name was, he only said he’d never needed one. Tadashi started to call him Tsukki, because it sounded like the moon and they always met in the moonlight. The wolf didn’t complain.

One night Tadashi was running late. He had been beaten up that day and his mother had been so worried it took a long time until she went to sleep, and Tadashi had a chance to sneak away. Tadashi had debated with himself weather he should go at all. Maybe it would’ve been better to get a full night’s sleep for once, and it wasn’t like the wolf seemed particularly dependent on his visits. The wolf probably wouldn’t mind, he might even be glad to be rid of the annoyance Tadashi was. In the end he decided to go anyway.

Tadashi had a black eye and a split lip, his sides were sore, and the walk to their usual meeting spot took longer than normally. Eventually he made it, and Tsukki was there already. A giant shadow among shadows. He raised his head annoyedly when he heard Tadashi approach.

“You’re late”, the creature informed Tadashi. Then the wolf’s eyes grew bigger in surprise. “What happened to you?”

Tadashi sighed and sat next to the wolf leaning against him. Tsukki was softer and warmer than Tadashi had thought. The wolf didn’t shake him away. Tadashi was exhausted.

Tadashi explained, though there wasn’t that much to explain. He’d been beaten up, that was it, really. 

“Why?” Tsukki asked tilting his head.

Tadashi shrugged and explained that it was how it was. He reminded Tsukki about how they had met the first time. It was a similar instance. 

“But why are they doing that to you?”

“Maybe it makes them feel better to… have someone to kick around, I guess?” Tadashi said.

Maybe it was just bad luck that he had been the one chosen. Or maybe he really was that weak and stupid and pathetic. He couldn’t even defend himself, maybe he deserved this. Maybe the others were right and everyone would be better off without him around. He sighed.

Tsukki swung his tail in an annoyed way. “I don’t know what you are thinking, but I don’t like the aura you give off.”

Tadashi hummed. 

“It’s fine”, the boy promised. The wolf didn’t seem convinced but didn’t say more about the matter. He let the boy fall asleep against him.

* * *

Tadashi woke up in his own bed, confused about how he had gotten there. He wondered if last night’s trip to the forest had actually been a dream after all. When he got up, there was no more doubt.

The whole village was stirring. During the night deep claw marks had appeared on every door – except Tadashi’s family’s door. It was a message, there was no doubt about that. The village was scared, a meeting was called to discuss what to do about this. 

Some people wanted to hunt the creature that had left the marks. Hearing that made Tadashi’s blood turn cold. Luckily there were enough people that thought hunting a magical creature – claw marks like that had to have come from a magical creature, and there was also the fact that no one had heard a wild beast roam in the village – would only anger the whole forest. It was clearly unwise to bring that kind of wrath down on their tiny village. Then how about banishing Tadashi’s family from the village? Their door didn’t have claw marks, maybe they were behind all this. But wouldn’t that, someone pointed out, also anger the one who’d left the marks? 

Tadashi’s mother spoke: “I don’t know what left those marks, but someone hurt my boy and the next day those marks were there. I don’t know who is responsible for hurting Tadashi, and it seems like neither did the creature marking your doors. So, I see it this way: leave my child alone and everything’s going to be fine. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. I don’t understand how none of you can keep your own kids in line, in the first place.”

There was murmur, and the matter was tossed and turned around for some moments more. Eventually the villagers agreed that waiting, and leaving Tadashi be, was the best solution for now. Everyone would be on their guard though, Tadashi’s family shouldn’t think they were out of the woods just yet.

When people were leaving the gathering, one of Tadashi’s bullies approached him.

“Was it that wolf?” the kid asked quietly. There was fear in his eyes. It was weird seeing him like that when usually the dynamic was the other way around. For the first time Tadashi didn’t have to be afraid when talking to this boy. The control over the situation was in Tadashi’s hands.

“It was”, Tadashi answered as quietly. Of course he hadn’t talked to Tsukki about the claw marks yet, but who else could it have been? Tadashi decided he had every right to use the situation in his advantage as much as possible, so he continued: “He was angry when he saw you guys had hurt me.”

“Please tell him I’m sorry! And my friends! Please don’t make the wolf eat us!” the kid pleaded in the brink of tears.

Tadashi was tempted to make the other boy squirm a little bit more, for everything he had done along all the rest. It would’ve seemed fair. But even then, he settled for promising: “Just leave me be and he won’t go after you.” 

He felt… powerful. He would be safe from now on. 

That’s how Tadashi became the boy who befriended the wolf.

* * *

Now that everyone was aware of the wolf, Tadashi didn’t have to hide his trips to the forest. His mother was worried, but trusted her son’s judgment.

“You know, Tadashi”, she said once, “I’ve known you were special for some time.”

“How?” Tadashi didn’t feel like there was anything special about him. Maybe to his mom he was, but from an objective point of view he was about as plain as a person could be.

“Normally anyone would’ve ran after seeing a creature like this, but you didn’t, right? You stayed with the wolf”, his mother pointed out.

Tadashi shrugged. “I just didn’t feel like he was dangerous.”

“That’s exactly why you’re special. You can sense things people usually can’t. I haven’t mentioned this before, but it is an ability that runs in the family.”

That was new information for Tadashi. He’d never even thought about an ability like that existing, let alone having it himself. He thought it probably made sense, though. He had felt the forest like it was a living creature that had different moods. He could sense different things from Tsukki. He had played it off as an instinct everyone had. It had been normal to him, so he had thought it was normal for everyone.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I was worried you’d run off to the forest to test if you had that ability or not, and the forest is a dangerous place for a child”, his mother continued. “But I guess I can’t lock you up from the world to try to keep you safe. And now it would probably be pointless to forbid you from seeing that friend of yours, wouldn’t it? I’d rather not have you sneak out behind my back and be afraid to tell me what is going on in your life. So, instead I’ll just ask you to be careful. Promise me that.”

Tadashi did. He was incredibly relieved, he felt light as feather. 

‘That friend of yours’ mom had said, and those words made his flutter. Tadashi realized that he did, in fact, have a friend. He had a friend, and no one would dare to bully him anymore. Things were looking up. Tadashi was so happy he had to laugh.


End file.
